Method of manufacture of jackets and like garments provided with fastening elements

ABSTRACT

Method of industrial manufacture of garments from at least one indefinite web of supple sheet material, wherein tie elements forming waist bands or neck attachments are laid on the initial web in perpendicular relationship to their normal direction of use and are provided with lines of gluing and folding through 45* enabling them to be turned over into their direction of use.

United States Patent Pierron et a1.

1 1 Jan. 7, 1975 [54] METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF JACKETS 3,146,465 9/1964 Hummel 2/49 R AND LI GARMENTS PROVIDED WITH 3.156.927 11/1964 Grimm et a1 2/243 R 3,221,341 12/1965 Hummel 2/49 R FASTENING ELEMENTS 3,574,238 4/1971 McCurry 2/243 R [75] Inventors; Claude Raymond Pierro Epinal; 3,681,785 8/1972 Truman 2/243 R Jean Paul Joseph Jenny, Decin 3,684,611 8/1972 Craig 2/243 R X Robert Zuccaro, Epinal, all of France Primary ExaminerAlfred R. Guest [73] Assignee: Plymatig, Darnieulles, France Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenyon & Kenyon Reilly 22 Filed: July 11, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 378,140

[57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 11 1972 France 72 25124 Method of industrial manufacture of garments from at least one indefinite web of supple sheet material, [52] U S cl 2/243 R 252 wherein tie elements forming waist bands or neck at- [51] A4ld tacliments are laid on the initial web in perpendicular [58] Fie'ld 220 relationship to their normal direction of use and are provided with lines of gluing and folding through 45 enabling them to be turned over into their direction of [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 2,949,611 8/1960 Wilkaitis 2/49 R Patented Jan. 7, 1975 3,858,243

3 Shoots-Sheet l Patentcd Jan. 7, 1975 3 53243 3 Shoots-Shoot 5 METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF JACKETS AND LIKE GARMENTS PROVIDED WITH FASTENING ELEMENTS The present invention relates generally to a method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, provided with fastening elements forming ties such as waist bands, neck and wrist attachments or the like, wherein the garments are manufactured continuously by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at leastone indefinite initial web of supple sheet material, on which pairs of sleeve elements are thereafter placed if appropriate.

Methods of this type are already known in the prior art for industrial manufacture, in a continuous assembly line, of jackets and garments of the same kind, which are for instance formed from an indefinite initial web of cloth, fabric, paper, made in particular from natural or artificial textile material. In these known methods, the necessary fastening elements such as waist bands, neck or wrist attachments, are placed and fixed on the finished garments, or aresimply joined to the latter. The finished garments have therefore to be taken one by one at their exit from the assembly line in order to be adequately folded and refolded to enable the waist band and neck attachments to be fixed at the desired locations, after which the garments are generally packed.

In order to avoid these drawbacks, the invention provides a method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, ovealls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, comprising fastening elements forming ties, wherein the garments are formed by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at least one indefinite initial web of supple sheet material, the said method being characterized in that the said fastening elements are laid continuously in the form of a narrow band or strip on the said web of supple material in the direction of progression of the manufacturing operations, the said elements are thereafter fixed on at least a portion of the said web at regular intervals corresponding to the points of fixing of the said fastening elements on the said garments, and the manufacture of the said garments is completed in a manner known per se. Such a procedure enables the making and laying of the fastening elements to be combined with the usual mechanized or automated operations involved in the manufacture of such garments.

According to another feature of the invention, the fastening elements are laid in parallel relationship and side by side on the said web in the said direction of progression in the form of at least two indefinite strips fixed at different points on the said web along assembling lines, at least one of which forms an angle of about 45 to the longitudinal direction of the garment and, when the said strips are cut to form the said fastening elements, enables the corresponding strip piece to be turned over about the said line to form the aforesaid ties.

According to another feature of the invention, the fastening elements are laid on the said web in the said direction of progression in the form of at least one strip piece, the major portion of which is arranged in parallel relationship to the said direction of progression and the other portion of which is arranged transversely and is fixed to the said web by way of sticking, welding, hotwelding or the like. In this case, the said strip piece before being laid on the said web is provided with at least one line of folding through 45 determining the said transverse and longitudinal portions of the strip laid on the said web.

Owing to the invention, it is sufficient to lay on the said web, intended to form the garments, at an intermediate stage of their manufacture, two parallel strips which are fixed at various points on the web, so as to obtain directly the desired fastening elements.

The invention will be better understood and other objects, characteristics and advantages thereof will ap pear as the following description proceeds, with reference to the appended drawings given solely by way of example illustrating several forms of embodiment of the invention and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an example of application of the method of the invention for forming fastening elements on overalls;

FIGS. 2 to 6 illustrate various modifications in the application of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a detailed view illustrating the fixing of the strips forming the waist band elements of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, wherein the strips are provided with a strengthening element; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a modification of the fixing of the fastening elements according to the invention.

FIG. 1 therefore shows an intermediate step in the continuous industrial manufacture of overalls provided with the fastening elements according to the invention.

In a known manner, the overalls are formed from an indefinite web 1 of supple sheet material, on which are laid sleeve elements 2, and the lateral portions 3 and 4 of the web 1 are turned over onto the said web in parallel relationship to the direction of progression of the manufacturing operations, as shown by the arrows 5. The lateral portions 3 and 4 of the web 1 completely cover the underlying portion 6 of the web. On the drawing, part of the lateral portion 4 is torn away and the lateral portion 3 is folded on itself for the sake of clarity. However, during the manufacture of the overalls, the lateral portion 3 covers a considerable surface of the lateral portion 4, so that the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 is entirely covered. The sleeve elements 2, the outlines of which are at least partially shown by dashes in FIG. 1, are fixed, on the one hand, to the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 and, on the other hand, to the lateral portions 3 and 4, respectively, of the web, along armhole lines 7 which also form assembling lines along which the said sleeve elements are fixed by way of sticking, welding, heat-welding or the like. After the various cutting and assembling operations involved in the making of the overalls are completed, the web I is cut along the lines 8 and 9 into equal lengths, each of which corresponds to each of the completed overall which, at that moment, is in a state folded inside out.

According to the invention, the fastening elements forming the necessary ties, such as, for instance, the waist band or the neck attachments, are brought at an intermediate manufacturing state and laid on the web 1, for instance just before or after the sleeve elements 2.

In a first form of embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. I, the fastening elements are constituted essentially by two indefinite strips 10 and 11 which are laid on the underlying portion 6 of the web I in parallel relationship and side by side, substantially along the longitudinal medial axis of the underlying portion 6 of the web. The strips 10 and 11' are fixed at various points, on the one hand, on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 and, on the other hand, on the lateral portions 3 and 4 of the web, along assembling lines and by way of sticking, welding, hot-welding or the like. At least one of the said assembling lines forms an angle of 45 to the aforesaid direction 5 so as to enable the corresponding fastening element to be turned over about the said line to be brought into its normal direction of use.

It is obvious that, in the case considered, the longitudinal direction of the overalls and the longitudinal direction of the web 1 are identical. The strips and 11 are laid continuously in parallel relationship to the same direction and will be used, for instance as waist bands, in a perpendicular direction, thus accounting for the necessity of an assembling line at 45. On the contrary, if the overalls provided on the web 1 in perpendicular relationship to the longitudinal direction of the latter, and if the strips are again laid in parallel relationship to the longitudinal direction of the web 1, it is useless to provide for assembling lines at 45 for turning over the strip in a perpendicular direction.

In FIG. 1, the strips 10 and 11 are for instance fixed first on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 along as sembling lines 12 and 13 and thereafter on the lateral portions 3 and 4 along assembling lines 14 and 15, for instance identical in shape, at least a portion of which is also at 45 to the said direction of progression.

At the end of the operations involved in the manufacture of the overalls, the web 1 is first severed along the line 8 and then the line 9. The strips are also cut or precut, before or after being laid, just in front of the assembling lines 12 and 13 along the lines 16 and 17. Thus, neck attachments, fixed to the lateral portions 3 and 4 of the web 1, are formed, on the one hand, between the assembly 14 and the line 16 and, on the other hand, between the assembly 15 and the line 17, the said lateral portions forming either the two halves of the back portion of the overall or the two halves of the front portion thereof, whereas the line 8 forms the neck opening line. The waist band elements are formed by the strip segment comprised between the lines 16 and 17 and the line 9, respectively, whereas the line 9 forms, on the one hand, the lower end line of an overall and, on the other hand, the neck-opening line of the following overall.

It should be noted that the assembling lines at 45 of the neck attachments on the lateral portions 3 and 4 enable the-corresponding strip pieces to be turned over towards one another in order to bring the portions 3 and 4 together. On the contrary, the assembling lines 12 and 13 of the strip pieces enable the latter to be turned over in mutually opposite directions in order that they may form a waist band.

It is understood, although this is not shown in FIG. 1, that wrist attachments can be formed in the same simple way in order to tighten the sleeve ends around the wearers wrist.

In the modified form of embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 is shown diagrammatically by a dash-dotted outline and the direction of progression of the manufacturing operations is again shown by the arrow 5. In this case, the fastening elements are formed by a strip piece 20 whose length corresponds to that of the completed fastening element, which may be a waist band, a neck attachment or a wrist attachment. Before being laid on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1, the strip piece 20 intended to form a waist band is provided with two mutually opposite lines 21, 22 of folding through 45, advantageously arranged symmetrically with respect to the transverse medial axis of the strip piece 20. The folding lines 21 and 22 define between themselves a rectangular isosceles triangle 23 onto which the two free ends of the strip 24, 25 are turned over. The thus folded strip piece 20 is laid on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1, the free ends 24 and 25 being parallel to the direction shown by the arrow 5, and the triangle 23 being in contact with the underlying portion 6 and fixed on the latter along an assembling line 27 starting from the vertex of the said triangle and parallel to the said direction of progression.

Thus, the waist band elements formed by the strip piece 20 are, as previously, laid continuously on the web 1 in parallel relationship to the said direction of progression, and the folding lines 21 and 22 enable the free ends 24 and 25 to be turned over in a perpendicular direction to the said direction of progression so as to place the said waist band in its normal position of use.

FIG. 3 shows another way of fixing the triangle 23 on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1, the assembling line 27 being replaced by lines 28 extending along the outline of the triangle 23 of the strip piece 20. The folding lines 21 and 22 of this strip are strengthened by adjacent assembling lines 28.

FIG. 4 shows another modification of the waist band according to the invention, wherein a strip piece 30 is provided with two lines 31, 32 of folding through 45, defining between themselves an isosceles trapezium 33. As previously, the strip piece 30 is so laid on the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 that the isosceles trapezium 33 be perpendicular to the said direction of progression, the said trapezium being provided with two assembling lines 34, 35 located on the small side and on the large side of the trapezium 33. Also in this case, the assembling lines 34 and 35 enable the folding lines 31 and 32 to be strengthened.

In FIG. 5, the fastening elements are formed by two identical strip pieces 36 and 37 arranged in parallel relationship side by side on the web 1 and which may serve as waist bands as well as neck attachments. Each strip piece 36, 37 is provided with a folding line 38, 39 enabling the strip piece to be turned over around the said line in a direction perpendicular to the initial direction, the lines 38 and 39 being so arranged that their directions form a right angle between themselves. Ac cording to whether the folding lines 38 and 39 are at an angle of 45 in one direction or the other with respect to the said direction of progression, the strip pieces 36 and 37 form either neck attachments or a waist band. The folding of each strip piece about the said folding lines defines, as shown in FIG. 5, a rectangular triangle serving to fix a strip piece on the web 1 and provided for this purpose with, for example, assembling lines 41 on two of its sides.

In FIG. 6 the strip pieces 43 and 44 are provided with folding lines 45 and 46 which are slightly spaced from the end of each strip piece so as to define a transverse portion 47, 48 which is not limited to a rectangular triangle. The transverse portions 47 and 48 are fixed on the web 1 along assembling lines 49 arranged into squares on the portions 47 and 48. Obviously, the assembling lines 49 may as well extend over the whole outline of the transverse portions 47 and 48.

FIG. 7 is a detailed view illustrating the fixing of the fastening elements described in connection with FIG. 1, where the strips 10 and 11 are fixed to the underlying portion 6 of the web 1 along assembling lines 12 and 13. The assembling lines 12 and 13 each comprise a line 50, 51, respectively, inclined at 45 to the longitudinal direction of the strips 10 and 11 and enabling the said strips to be turned over in a perpendicular direction to form the waist band of the overall. Also in this case, a great number of different forms of the assembling lines 12 and 13 may be used provided, however, they all include a line inclined at 45 enabling the strip to be turned over in a direction perpendicular to the initial direction.

FIG. 8 shows a strip 55 of the same type as those of FIG. 7 but provided with a strengthening element 56 forming a thickness layer on the said strip. The strengthening element 56 may be formed by a narrow cloth strip fixed in some way or another on the surface of the strip 55 and the width of which may be substantially smaller than or substantially equal to that of the strip 55.

FIG. 9 shows a last way of fixing of fastening elements according to the invention, wherein two strips 60 and 61 are placed on a face of the web I and covered with a fixing piece 62 arranged transversely to the said strips and two sides 63 and 64 of which are inclined at 45 to the longitudinal direction of the strip, so as to enable the said strips to be turned over in a perpendicular direction. The fixing piece 62 is fixed on the web 1 along assembling lines 65 extending over the whole outline of the said piece more particularly along the said sides 63 and 64, the purpose of these assembling lines being to simultaneously fix the piece 62 and the strips 60 and 61 on the web 1. The waist band formed by the strips 60 and 61 is used, as previously, by folding the said strips about the sides 63 and 64.

In the foregoing, there have been described several ways of fixing the strips forming the fastening elements on the supporting web intended to form the overalls, but, obviously, a great nummber of other ways of fixing, in particular various shapes of the assembling lines, may be used. The strips may be made from either the same material as the web intended to form the garments or a different material, which may or may not be strengthened. The method of the invention is therefore applicable to the manufacture of garments of any kind provided with fastening elements such as waist bands or neck attachments, but it is particularly advantageous when used for the manufacture of quite unexpensive garments such as, for example, surgeons, overalls intended to be worn only one time and then discarded. In this case, the simplification of the manufacture and the elmination of certain operations such as those consisting of fixing separately the waist bands on the completed overalls, are of great importance owing to the resulting reduction in the cost of the finished garments.

It is therefore understood that the invention is by no means limited to the forms of embodiment described and illustrated, which have been given by way of example only. In particular, it comprises all the means constituting technical equivalents to the means described as well as their combinations, should the latter be carried out according to the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, which are formed by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at least one indefinite initial web of supple sheet material in a known per se manner comprising the steps or laying on the said web fastening elements forming ties such as waist bands, neck attachments and wrist attachments, and fixing them at regular intervals on the said web, the improvement comprising the steps of laying the said tie elements on the said initial web in perpendicular relationship to their normal direction of use and providing them with lines of gluing and folding through 45 enabling them to be turned over into their direction of use.

2. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of laying at least two indefinite strips in parallel relationship and side by side on the said web in a longitudinal direction of the garments, fixing said strips at various points on the said web along assembling lines, at least some of which form an angle of about 45 to the longitudinal direction of the said garment, and severing the said strips at predetermined locations to enable the corrsponding pieces of strip to be turned over about the corresponding assembling line through 45 to form the said fastening elements.

3. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of providing a piece of strip with at least one line of folding through 45 determining transverse and longitudinal portions of the said strip, laying it on the said web with its longitudinal portion arranged in parallel relationship to a longitudinal of the garments and fixing the transverse portion of the said piece of strip on the said web.

4. Method according to claim 3 wherein the folding line is located in proximity to one end of the said piece of strip which will be fixed to the said web at its said end. the rest of the strip being folded about the said line in the said direction of progression.

5. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of providing a piece of strip with two lines of folding through 45 arranged in perpendicular relationship to one another and substantially symmetrically on either side of the middle of the said piece of strip, folding the latter along the said lines so as to form two free parallel portions and a transverse medial portion, laying the said piece of strip on the said web with its free parallel portions arranged in parallel relationship to the longitudinal direction of the garments, and fixing the transverse portion onto the said web.

6. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of laying at least two indefinite strips in parallel relationship and side by side on the said web in a longitudinal direction of the garments, fixing said strips at various points on the said web by means of pieces of strips arranged transversely on the said web above the said strips and provided along their outline with lines or points of asssembly of the said web determining at least one line which forms an angle of about 45 to the said direction of progression and cutting the said strips to form the said fastening elements and to enable the corresponding piece of strip to be turned over in a perpendicular direction about said line at 45.

7. Method according to claim 6 wherein the step of using the strips continuously laid on the same web to form the waist band elements and the neck atttachments of the said garments.

8. Method according to claim 6 wherein precutting or providing the said strips with lines of reduce strength is made to permit the separation of the various ties formed by the said strips.

9. Method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind which are formed by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at least one indefinite initial web of supple sheet material in a known per se manner comprising the steps of forming the one of the back and front portions of the garment with the central portion of said web, forming the other of the back and front portions with a superposed layer of web, the garment then being in the inside-out folded state, laying at least one strip forming the fastening elements on the central portion of the said web, substantially along a longitudinal medial axis of the latter, and fixing the strip, on the one hand, on the central portion of the web, substantially at the level of the location of the waist of the said garment, and, on the other hand, on the superposed layer of web at the level of the location of the neck-opening of the garment, cutting the said strip during the following manufacturing operations to separate the waist band ties and the neck ties.

10. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, comprising separate portions which are to be assembled along junction lines during their use and provided with fastening elements forming ties such as waist bands and neck attachments for assembling said portions, at least a major part of each fastening element being constituted by a narrow strip of supple material attached to said portion of the garment along a first part of its length in a direction substantially parallel to the junction line of the two portions of the garment to be assembled, said first part of said narrow strip attached to the garment extending to a second part which is free of any attachment with the garment and said two parts being joined along a line forming an angle of about 45 with said junction line of said two portions of the garment.

11. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind according to claim 10, wherein said first part of said strip is attached to said garment notably along said line joining the first and the second parts of said strip.

12. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind according to claim 10, wherein said two parts of said strip are joined along said line and a fold is formed along said line. 

1. Method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, which are formed by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at least one indefinite initial web of supple sheet material in a known per se manner comprising the steps or laying on the said web fastening elements forming ties such as waist bands, neck attachments and wrist attachments, and fixing them at regular intervals on the said web, the improvement comprising the steps of laying the said tie elements on the said initial web in perpendicular relationship to their normal direction of use and providing them with lines of gluing and folding through 45* enabling them to be turned over into their direction of use.
 2. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of laying at least two indefinite strips in parallel relationship and side by side on the said web in a longitudinal direction of the garments, fixing said strips at various points on the said web along assembling lines, at least some of which form an angle of about 45* to the longitudinal direction of the said garment, and severing the said strips at predetermined locations to enable the corrsponding pieces of strip to be turned over about the corresponding aSsembling line through 45* to form the said fastening elements.
 3. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of providing a piece of strip with at least one line of folding through 45* determining transverse and longitudinal portions of the said strip, laying it on the said web with its longitudinal portion arranged in parallel relationship to a longitudinal of the garments and fixing the transverse portion of the said piece of strip on the said web.
 4. Method according to claim 3 wherein the folding line is located in proximity to one end of the said piece of strip which will be fixed to the said web at its said end, the rest of the strip being folded about the said line in the said direction of progression.
 5. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of providing a piece of strip with two lines of folding through 45* arranged in perpendicular relationship to one another and substantially symmetrically on either side of the middle of the said piece of strip, folding the latter along the said lines so as to form two free parallel portions and a transverse medial portion, laying the said piece of strip on the said web with its free parallel portions arranged in parallel relationship to the longitudinal direction of the garments, and fixing the transverse portion onto the said web.
 6. Method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of laying at least two indefinite strips in parallel relationship and side by side on the said web in a longitudinal direction of the garments, fixing said strips at various points on the said web by means of pieces of strips arranged transversely on the said web above the said strips and provided along their outline with lines or points of asssembly of the said web determining at least one line which forms an angle of about 45* to the said direction of progression and cutting the said strips to form the said fastening elements and to enable the corresponding piece of strip to be turned over in a perpendicular direction about said line at 45*.
 7. Method according to claim 6 wherein the step of using the strips continuously laid on the same web to form the waist band elements and the neck atttachments of the said garments.
 8. Method according to claim 6 wherein precutting or providing the said strips with lines of reduce strength is made to permit the separation of the various ties formed by the said strips.
 9. Method of continuous industrial manufacture of jackets, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind which are formed by means of a series of mechanized or automated operations from at least one indefinite initial web of supple sheet material in a known per se manner comprising the steps of forming the one of the back and front portions of the garment with the central portion of said web, forming the other of the back and front portions with a superposed layer of web, the garment then being in the inside-out folded state, laying at least one strip forming the fastening elements on the central portion of the said web, substantially along a longitudinal medial axis of the latter, and fixing the strip, on the one hand, on the central portion of the web, substantially at the level of the location of the waist of the said garment, and, on the other hand, on the superposed layer of web at the level of the location of the neck-opening of the garment, cutting the said strip during the following manufacturing operations to separate the waist band ties and the neck ties.
 10. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind, comprising separate portions which are to be assembled along junction lines during their use and provided with fastening elements forming ties such as waist bands and neck attachments for assembling said portions, at least a major part of each fastening element being constituted by a narrow strip of supple material attached to said portion of the garment along a first part of its length in a direction substantially parallel to the juNction line of the two portions of the garment to be assembled, said first part of said narrow strip attached to the garment extending to a second part which is free of any attachment with the garment and said two parts being joined along a line forming an angle of about 45* with said junction line of said two portions of the garment.
 11. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind according to claim 10, wherein said first part of said strip is attached to said garment notably along said line joining the first and the second parts of said strip.
 12. Jackets, overalls, blouses, gowns and garments of the same kind according to claim 10, wherein said two parts of said strip are joined along said line and a fold is formed along said line. 